If you want to make passive income by affiliate marketing, this post will be your go-to resource.

Not only will I teach you the fundamentals of being an affiliate marketer, but we’ll also look at some real-life examples of professional affiliate marketers who make thousands or even millions of dollars every year without wasting any money on PPC or other nonsense.

We’ll go over how to promote products on Amazon, how to create SEO-optimized content that ranks well on Google, email list promotion techniques, how to select the best affiliate program for you and send you a step-by-step guide to the entire process so you can start earning affiliate commissions right away.

Let’s get started.

We’ll begin with a (rather lengthy) definition:

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the practice of endorsing another person’s or company’s goods or services in exchange for a fee on the resulting sale. Affiliate marketers sign up for affiliate services, search for reputable affiliate products to advertise, and then distribute those products to their audiences.

Essentially, it is a modern version of an ancient concept — earning a commission on a sale.

If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know that bloggers make money by creating a trusting audience and then providing goods or services that actually benefit that audience.

Affiliate marketing is essentially a simple way to sell goods and services without having to build your own.

For bloggers, this means finding a product or service that you want, promoting it to your followers, and earning a portion of the profit from each sale.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

Except for those who are well-versed in digital marketing, Affiliate marketing can become very technical. Fortunately, you don’t need to be an expert to get started.

Because of the merchant’s affiliate program software, the actual mechanics run in the background.

But here’s a brief behind-the-scenes look:

  • When an affiliate enters a merchant’s network, he or she is assigned a unique ID and a URL to use when trying to market the company’s product.
  • The affiliate adds the link in their blog content and/or email marketing campaigns, inviting readers to click it to learn more.
  • A cookie, which is identifying the affiliate, is placed on a potential buyer’s machine when they click on the link to visit the affiliate partners’ site. The cookie guarantees that the publisher receives a payout for the referral sale even though it happens later on.
  • When a customer completes the purchase process (converts), the merchant checks the sales record for a cookie (or session ID) that identifies the referral source.
  • If the merchant sees that a cookie containing an affiliate ID, the affiliate receives credit for the transaction.
  • The merchant provides updates to the affiliate so that they can see their referral traffic and sales.
  • The retailer pays an affiliate commission at the end of each payout cycle (i.e., revenue sharing).

Here’s a graphical representation of the method to help you imagine it:

When you grasp the flow, it works the same no matter what kind of product you’re promoting or how experienced you are as an affiliate marketer.

So, let’s take a look at the usual progression for a blogger who is serious about making affiliate marketing a significant source of income.

How to Begin Affiliate Marketing in 4 Easy Steps

Here’s what you need to know if you want to become an affiliate marketer:

You receive a commission in return for providing useful information to readers about goods or services they were already considering buying.

In other words, the readers are already purchasing products. If you give them advice or not, they are going to make a purchase.

The question is, can you help them make a better decision than they do on their own?

And that is where the value is added. You receive a fee for assisting people in making better choices, and you use your blog and the Internet to automate the process, offering useful guidance to thousands of people.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to doing just that:

Step 1: Decide on a product to promote as an Affiliate.

As an ethical writer, the goods you want to portray will always be limited in one of two ways:

Either you’re restricted by your knowledge of products you’ve used and enjoyed, that have affiliate programs, and that is a good match for your audience, or you’re limited by the products you can get access to test them, whether by purchasing them directly or obtaining a free sample or trial.

Whatever approach you take, plan to spend time and money finding the right items for your target audience.

Here are your two primary choices (with your best option listed first).

OPTION #1: PROMOTE PRODUCTS YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH AND ENJOY

This is the most popular way to begin using affiliate deals.

You become an affiliate with something you’ve used, had a positive experience with, thoroughly reviewed, and feel confident recommending. As long as they do the job, you should be equally sure that others would achieve the same (or better) outcomes that you did.

If you’ve had great success with a course, mastermind, or ebook that your readers might profit from, it’s only natural for you to spread the word and share your findings.

Make a list of the goods, programs, and courses with which you are already familiar. You may have a dozen or more names on your list.

Which of these would you be most enthusiastic about promoting? Remove those that do not suit the bill.

Simply look to see if the merchant has an affiliate program (some don’t, but you’d be surprised how many do).

Look for “affiliate program” + [product name] in a search engine like Google, or simply email the merchant and inquire.

Then go through the following Good Affiliate Product checklist with your remaining options:

  • You’ve seen the product and are confident in its consistency (given, in this case).
  • They have a solid return policy that you can rely on.
  • They have good customer service (which you have tested).
  • You have an interesting story to tell about your experience with the product.
  • The offer meets the needs of your target audience and does not violate the relationship you’ve established with them.

The goods that check all of the boxes are your best affiliate income opportunities. Add as many products to your mix as you want as time goes by.

You’ve discovered your first product! Apply to the merchant’s method and begin promoting.

If you’re just starting out in affiliate marketing, this first choice may be enough to get you started.

Many bloggers, however, would want to pursue the next one as well.

(So you’ll have to look at the second alternative if you don’t already have a product you love that is also a good fit for your audience and has an affiliate program.)

Option #2: Use an Affiliate Network to Find Products

Suppose you don’t have direct experience or awareness of products in your niche that could benefit your readers. In that case, you can also find good affiliate products on affiliate networks (our comprehensive guide).

But be cautious: this strategy necessitates more time and money spent on research and buying goods to test out than the first alternative.

This is because there is less confidence and previous experience involved from the start. To protect your reputation and the trust you’ve developed with your readers, you must exercise caution.

Working through a network means you won’t know the merchant ahead of time and won’t be able to establish a relationship with them (your business relationship is with the network).

CJ Affiliate, ClickBank, the eBay Partner Network, ShareASale, CJ Affiliate (aka Commission Junction), and the Amazon Associates program are among the most common and dependable affiliate networks. Some networks will also appoint you an affiliate manager to assist you and teach you the ins and outs of the company.

Amazon goods, in particular, are a great place to start. Many newbies start as Amazon affiliates and then progress to other forms of more lucrative affiliate deals.

Step #2: Set Up Yourself as an Affiliate

If you work directly with a merchant or through a network, you must apply, be accepted, and provide specific details in order to be paid.

You must, at the very least, provide:

For tax and reporting purposes, your personal/business contact details.

Your bank account, to which fees will be deposited.

In exchange, the merchant is obligated to provide you with:

This is an affiliate link. This trackable link will be used whenever you post about the product. Each link will have a long tag at the end that includes your affiliate ID.

Here are some examples of traditional affiliate text links:

EXAMPLE LINK TO THE MERCHANT’S HOME PAGE

www.website.com/dap/a/?a=9999

EXAMPLE LINK TO INNER PAGE ON THE MERCHANT’S WEBSITE

www.website.com/dap/a/?a=9999&p=website.com/page.htm

You’ll almost always get some marketing advice and assets as well (often found in a welcome guide or on the affiliate website).

This may include:

  • An affiliate guide and guidance on how to use the platform and a list of policies such as payouts.
  • Banners and sidebar graphics are examples of online marketing resources.
  • Snippet copy for an email or a website.
  • Ongoing contact from the merchant about promotions, new goods, and so on.

If you use a network like Amazon, you will receive a unique link for each of the items you promote.

For more details, consult the aid or support pages for your particular network.

Tip: If your audience is international (as many bloggers’ are), you can check out the genius link for monitoring overseas sales through Amazon, iTunes, and Microsoft Store.

Step #3: Begin promoting the Affiliate offers you’ve chosen.

Finally, all of your time spent researching and testing goods will be for naught unless someone follows your advice and makes a purchase, right?

You must place your recommendation in front of your target audience for this to happen. And more importantly, you must make your recommendation credible.

This is where many affiliate marketers make mistakes. They believe that putting some banners on their blog that link to affiliate products is all that is needed.

However, consider this:

Do you think that’s trustworthy? Isn’t there somewhere nearby?

So here’s a little secret:

The most popular affiliate deals do not resemble this at all. There will be no PPC or veiled social media recommendations.

Here’s what you should do instead (along with the marketing platforms you should use):

Option 1: Make a Resource Page for Your Blog

A good example is our own resource page:

It promotes a variety of items, but it also organizes them based on the various types of readers and what they may need at the time. It also describes why such goods will be beneficial to them.

To put it another way, it’s not just a sales pitch. It’s instructive. It ranks high in Google search results and receives organic traffic because it contains a lot of quality content and is well-tailored for SEO. It also has a high conversion rate.

You should be able to build a landing page like this in a matter of hours. Your readers will also appreciate the fact that you have compiled all of your suggestions in one location for easy reference.

Option #2: Produce and Distribute Custom Content

This content marketing strategy will serve as the foundation for your affiliate promotion efforts.

Use as many of the following approaches as are appropriate for your blog and audience.

All of these tactics presume that you are already driving traffic to your latest content by emailing your list regularly (at least twice a month) to let them know what’s new.

A) Write Honest Reviews

As an affiliate, you can write comprehensive reviews of the products, courses, books, or apps that you promote. For instance, here is our Siteground review:

Your reviews will concentrate on a single product or compare two or more competing products side by side.

The second method, though potentially more trustworthy, often distracts people by providing a plethora of suggestions.

If you want to review several items, one choice is to build a review site with only reviews and affiliate deals. It transforms into a “one-stop-shop” for your niche.

You should create a definitive, informative post on your website to inform your readers and “soft sell” your goods, and then work to get it ranked in search engines.

For example, you might create an ultimate guide to setting up a WordPress blog and provide affiliate links to your preferred hosting companies.

Whatever the subject, make sure it’s evergreen content — material that will be useful and relevant in the future.

You can make blog posts, videos, infographics, or something else you want, but it should not be a sales page. Concentrate on establishing faith and authority.

Finally, you should pay close attention to SEO — make sure to optimize for the right keywords, keep WordPress running quickly, and create links to your content to ensure a steady flow of Google traffic.

C) Produce Useful Bonus Content

Assuming it is permitted by your affiliate agreement (which is not always the case), you can create bonus content that is unique to your readers and lets customers get even more benefit from the affiliate product.

People are crazy about incentives! You can generate a variety of bonuses quickly and efficiently while also providing outstanding value to your readers.

By the way, this is a brilliant way to set yourself apart from other bloggers who represent the same goods.

Here are a few examples of incentives you might provide:

  1. Checklists that walk you through each step
  2. Quick-start manuals
  3. Video overviews or demonstrations
  4. Services that are complimentary or at a reduced cost (e.g., coaching calls)

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants you to inform people that you will be paid a commission.

However, even if it is not required by law where you live, we recommend it. It’s simply good company.

Don’t be afraid to be open and honest. People will respect your candor and want to help you repay them for making their lives easier.

So, if you share an affiliate link, whether in blog posts, web pages, or emails, let your readers know that you stand to receive a small commission if they buy through you — and that if they don’t use your link, that’s fine, too.

Assure them that you would never suggest a product unless you had tried it yourself or were assured that it could benefit them.

It is also advisable to have an Affiliate Disclaimer page on your website.

Here’s an example of our disclaimer page:

We already know how such affiliate links can appear in blog posts:

So far, we’ve gone through the steps to being a good affiliate marketer. Let’s take a look at some real-world affiliate marketing program examples, going over four different types of items you can support and benefit from.

Typically, the majority of your affiliate revenue would come from one or two “ringers” — key goods that almost everyone in your audience requires and that pay a decent commission.

As you advance, you can add complimentary items to fill out your offerings and support your audience in new ways, but determining your core earners is an important first step.

Digital Downloads are Choice #1.

Digital downloads are online services that your readers can use immediately rather than waiting for a shipment to arrive in the mail (as is true for physical products).

They may be audio or video files, PDFs, ebooks, or even links to websites where the material is available online.

Here are some examples:

Books or ebooks — Books that are hosted on your merchant’s website or downloaded from Amazon, iBooks, or other online retailers.

Downloadable programs, games, applications, plugins, and cloud services are examples of software.

Mobile apps — A selection of the hundreds of apps accessible via the iTunes Partner Program and other mobile app affiliate networks.

Movies, music, TV shows, and more — Media available from Amazon, the iTunes Affiliate Program, and others.

The Benefits

Digital downloads are a simple way to get started and assist the target audience with pressing issues.

There are no manufacturing, delivery, or storage costs.

Your customer will immediately view and profit from their digital product.

The disadvantages

Many ebooks, apps, and other download items are reasonably priced. To make some money, you’d have to sell a lot of them.

What is our recommendation?

Carry it out! However, other options on this list are likely to gain more money.

Option number two is to use online, hosted, or professional services.

When it comes to selling your services as an affiliate, it is important to focus on those that will be available to the entire audience regardless of where they are located (contrary to service providers who cater to local customers only).

In other words, don’t restrict your earning potential based on your location.

Your safest bet is to represent online, hosted, or skilled service providers/influencers you’ve previously collaborated with and have complete trust in.

Professional services include the following:

  • Designers are people who create things (99 Designs, Zazzle, Designmodo)
  • Content marketing services for media or creative companies (Media Content Advantage, John Melley Voice Overs & Production, Music Radio Creative) (Sprout Social, Hootsuite)
  • Membership forums and masterminds (Serious Bloggers Only, Freelance Writer’s Den, Digital Marketer)
  • Services such as research or consulting (Questia, Touchstone Research Store, Snow Consulting)
  • Accounting, financial, or legal counsel (as permitted by law) (Find Legal Types, Investing in Motifs, Greatland)

Pop culture, travel, tourism, nightlife, crafts/artisans are examples of niche specialties (Pet Care Supplies, zChocolat, Silvercar)

Here are some examples of online/hosted services:

  • Platforms for websites (Wix, Squarespace)
  • Services for generating leads (Thrive, Elementor [affiliate link])
  • Providers of email services (AWeber, Constant Contact, ConvertKit [affiliate link])
  • Services provided by websites (e.g., hosting, anti-spam, security, etc.)
  • The media (Wistia, Vimeo, Telestream, various WordPress plugins)
  • Platforms for courses (Zippy Courses, Ruzuku, Teachable)
  • Customer service or virtual assistance (Zendesk Partners program, VA Affiliates, TempsASAP)
  • Monthly subscriptions for IT support, cloud-based storage, backup, security, or other technical services

The Benefits

It’s simple to become a service affiliate, and it helps your audience handle crucial tasks that necessitate specialized knowledge.

Since utilities are typically sold at a higher price point, the earning capacity is likely to be greater than that of digital downloads.

Many hosted services offer annual commissions, which means you’ll be paying as long as the customers you refer continue to use the service.

The Disadvantages

Some of your favorite skilled service providers (those with which you have previous experience) do not have affiliate programs in place.

What is our recommendation?

Carry it out! Particularly if you can find an excellent service provider who can potentially support virtually everyone in your audience at some point and who can be a consistent source of income.

#3 – Online Courses

Online courses are a significant subset of digital goods, especially for bloggers, and the market is enormous. They’re so well-known that they deserve their own group on this list.

There are online courses available on almost every subject you can think of. They range from free to thousands of dollars, with higher-priced services promising students big results.

Here are some examples:

  • My Garden Academy
  • How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting to Be a Peaceful Parent and a Happy Child

Personal Finance Online Course

The Benefits

Courses are one of the most effective ways to help the audience reach a vital goal or overcome a stumbling block that has been holding them back. You can have tremendous value with minimal effort.

Since courses are often sold at a higher price point than other digital items, the profit opportunity from each affiliate sale is greater.

Courses are in high demand. Other online influencers in your niche whose courses can benefit your readers should be easy to find.

The disadvantages

You will need to devote time to working through and updating courses to ensure that they live up to their promises (to protect your reputation).

What is our recommendation?

Carry it out! Help your readers and make a lot of money at the same time.

Option #4 Ecommerce Stores

If you plan to advertise physical goods on your blog, your best choice is to choose high-quality, exclusive products that will clearly appeal to your target audience.

Avoid selling commodity items that your readers can get anywhere — the commissions are so low that you won’t make much money unless you can drive a lot of traffic to your platform.

Because of the overhead of processing costs, storage costs, shipping costs, and so on, commissions on e-commerce goods are typically fairly low. So, unless you want to create a massive review or shopping site, physical items would most likely account for a very limited portion of your blogging affiliate profits.

However, if you have a favorite tool for your trade, a must-have gadget that will make your readers’ lives easier, or a high-quality review that you know people will love, go ahead and include it.

Even if you don’t make a lot of money, you’ll create goodwill.

Here are some examples:

  • Product Review — Niche Shopping Pinch of Yum (hobbies), Mom (parenting), Compost Mania (gardening), Roemer’s Workshop (hobbies) (food)
  • Engadget, Gizmodo, and Craziest Devices are only a few of the websites dedicated to technology and gadgets.
  • This Is Why I’m Broke is pretty cool.

The Benefits

Companies will approach you after you have a well-established blog and give you a free product in exchange for a review. (You should always report this because it can be construed as a conflict of interest.)

If you can afford to buy goods on your own to test, you can be regarded as a genuinely impartial reviewer.

The disadvantages

Because of the overhead, commissions from eCommerce stores are typically much smaller, so you’ll need to sell a lot more goods to make a decent living.

Purchasing items to review before marketing them can be costly.

What is our recommendation?

Only offer physical goods under the following circumstances:

They are specifically linked to your blog subject and something that your audience needs.

They are not a commodity. Ecommerce stores that sell specialized and distinctive goods reflect well on you, enhancing your prestige and credibility.

You should now have a good understanding of what kinds of goods you should serve.

The Verdict on Affiliate Marketing

The dream of earning passive income isn’t just a silly fantasy.

It’s a truly attainable goal.

Sure, it’s not as simple as clicking a button or slapping Google Adsense all over your website. Still, with a little experience and perseverance, you can certainly do it and even transform it into an online company.

Affiliate marketing is one of the best online business models for making money once you’ve built a solid following (and from the comfort of your own home too).

And the best part is that getting started is so easy. This post outlines all of the steps for launching an affiliate marketing company.

Simply define the one major thing that everyone in your audience requires to achieve their objectives and begin there.

Choose a fantastic digital product from a reputable online retailer. Spread the term. Tell the story of your accomplishments.

Provide a lot of useful material that supports and educates your readers, but avoid being too salesy.

Be forthright, truthful, and clear. Maintain the confidence that your readers have placed in you.

Finally, patience is needed.

All of your hard work will be rewarded with the sweet “cha-ching” sound of affiliate fees being deposited into your bank account.

Last Updated on December 8, 2023

Author

Elizabeth is a Senior Content Manager at Scaleo. Currently enjoying the life in Prague and sharing professional affiliate marketing tips. She's been in the online marketing business since 2006 and gladly shares all her insights and ideas on this blog.